125 Yard Cheddar Beer Bread I cook a lot. I cook because I like to eat well, and this seems to be the best way to achieve that. I also cook because I like to make other people happy and most people like to eat. The third reason I cook, is that cooking is hands on, mindful and creative. I love the act of chopping veggies, smashing a garlic clove, and creating a meal. While I have a lot of recipe books left over from my pre internet world, I try not to follow recipes because cooking is one area of my life where I don’t have to follow the rules. Generally I follow rules - things like wearing a seatbelt, a bike helmet and not breaking the speed limit. I also attempt to be civilized, most of the time, which is following a sort of social rule. So unless I am baking cakes- where switching baking soda for baking powder leads to an awful cake - I go with the flow and follow my heart. A couple of weeks ago I went to Highland Pacific Golf Course for a Lululemon Ambassador get together. It was a chance to catch up with other lemons, and for for those of us who don’t play golf, Warren Reeves, (AKA Golf Pro) taught us how to grip, chip, and drive a ball. The goal of the evening was three fold in my view: rookies were invited to try to ping the power tower 125 yards across the driving range because the lake was too far away, to laugh a lot, and to eat. I brought home made beer bread. It was warm and fresh and it was a hit so here is the recipe. I made it up, but because I wasn’t sure if I should add all beer or beer and water. I googled and found inspiration for the bread on the BBC Food page, in a recipe by the Hairy Bikers, “two northern blokes with a passion for cooking and food.” Their recipe had too many ingredients for me, so here’s my super simple: 125 Yard Cheddar Beer Bread Recipe 1 packet instant yeast A can Phillips Blue Buck beer, at room temperature (please note, Phillips has paid me no money for the writing of this article, I just happened to have Blue Buck in the fridge that day. In the future I may try a Driftwood Fat Tug IPA. The stronger the beer the stronger the flavour, but I don’t recommend using a lager.) 2 cups plain flour + more for kneading and adding 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 Tablespoon salt 1 cup grated strong cheddar Olive oil Put the flours, salt, and instant yeast into a large bowl and mix together. Add the beer and the cheese and with a large wooden spoon, mix it all together until it is a good mass. Dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead it for a few moments, adding more flour if it’s sticky, until it’s a smooth lump of dough. Clean out the dough bowl, oil it with a bit of olive oil, and put the dough back in the bowl, rolling it around to cover with a light coat of oil. Cover it with a cloth, put it somewhere warm and out of reach of the dog, and go for a run, a ride or vacuum the house for an hour or 2. Come back and punch down the dough, which should have doubled in size by now. Knead it again and shape it into a big loaf, or 2 smaller loaves or you can even braid it! Dough is fun; unlike cake batter you can’t really wreck it. Put the loaves on a baking sheet and let sit while the oven heats up to 350F. Bake the bread for 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top. You can also tap on the bottom of the loaf, and it if sounds hollow, it’s probably done. Slice the bread and serve it to your friends. Lucy xox Over the last 20 years, I have grown, I have become a little more wise, and I have learned some valuable lessons I was supposed to learn. I don’t give detailed powerpoint presentations, I simply talk to people and the energy shapes itself with each group, because, in some inexplicable way, we share the same language, but I never know what that is until I stand up there, in front of the group. They call me inspiring, and I am inspired by them. I know what it’s like to start something new, to be learning, and to feel a bit afraid of a daunting goal.
Being a bit afraid is a gift. It is like the doorbell ringing - it makes us stand up and answer a call. That allows us to be brave and courageous. We can only be brave and courageous, when facing a fear. It also means that we care about something and that feeling means we are alive. And I as I talked last week, shedding some light and giving some skills to those who had a little anxiety about racing on the weekend, we had a chuckle, because we all know, that no matter how nervous they are on race morning, they are all going to show up at the start line, in whatever level of discomfort they have, and at the end of the race, they are all going to celebrate their bravery and strength! They are going to show up, because they worked every week for that start line. They are going to see it through. So all I wanted to tell them was: Accept that feeling of fear, but don’t fear what you don’t know. Like the lines in the now famous article turned into sung poem by Mary Schmich - Wear Sunscreen “Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday” If you are a little nervous, focus on taking care of the details, the things that will calm your mind – all the things that you can control. All the little things, like what to eat the night before, what to wear, what time you will leave your house in the morning and where you will park. Worrying about anything else (how you will feel on race day, what the weather is going to be, whether you will run or walk fast enough, should you even start?) is worry about the future, and over that, you have no control. And, those thoughts are just thoughts – you don’t have to believe them. Let’s say your thought is that you are afraid you will do a terrible job of pacing. You can’t even know if that thought is the truth. Believing it makes you anxious. Not believing it, or believing the opposite – that you will do a good job, sounds far more helpful and peaceful to me. Try it! I can’t tell you what to believe, but I can suggest you don’t believe everything you think! When I was racing full time, as an elite athlete, I spent the days before the race managing a lot of pre race nerves. Over time, I developed a solid and practical plan that included acceptance of the feelings for 2-3 days prior to a big competition. I spent a lot of time reassuring myself that I had done all I could do to be ready. I had done my training to the best of my ability and I had taken care of all the details. I worked a lot on trust. My training was now in the past, so I had nothing left to do but trust I had done a good job, and was ready. After that, the anxiety was merely a product of the fact that I cared, and that the race mattered. I didn’t always get it right, but I got better at this the more I practiced. By the time I reached the end of my career, I approached every start line with huge gratitude - that line was the chance to do something I absolutely loved. As the hours count down to race start, keep breathing, keep smiling (at least inside), and rest your body. Above all, if you are feeling a bit anxious, don’t berate yourself for feeling anxious. The race matters to you, and what matter to you, is all you can control. Run For Joy Lucy Smith May 4, 2018 |
joyWriting about the art of moving well and the lived experience of a life in sport. Archives
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